The field of blood processing primarily comprises hemodialysis and plasmapheresis, although other forms of blood treatment may also be used, for example, hemoperfusion, passing blood through adsorbent cartridges, and the like. To accomplish this, blood sets are used to convey blood from the patient to a blood processing device, and then to return the blood from the device back to the patient. The former blood set is called the arterial set, while the latter set is called the venous set.
In combination, the arterial and venous sets comprise several yards of tubing, and thus are rather cumbersome to handle. Furthermore, cost is of course a critical matter, especially when a patient has a chronic need for treatment as in hemodialysis, so that even small cost savings can add up to a substantial amount over a year or more of repeated usage of disposable arterial and venous sets.
Furthermore, priming of the sets is an issue requiring the skilled attention of technicians, so that any improvement or simplification in the priming process, and other processes of use of the arterial and venous sets, can be valuable.
By this invention, numerous improvements to conventional arterial and venous blood sets are provided for reduction of cost and improved ease and efficiency of use.